860 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Jun-b 1, 
fi' the Euttof. 
CINGALESE CATTLE IN TRINIDAD. 
Government Farm, Trinidad, B.W.I., 
10th March, im. 
Deab Sir,— I beg to olfer yon the annual 
report on the working of this farui for the 
past year. The year proved a tairly good 
one. , . „ „. 
With regard to our importation ot (.^niga- 
lese cattle from your colony, the animals 
arrived in good ccnidition after then- long 
iournoy. The little cows are curiosities, but 
the bull is a sturdy fellow and if we can 
rear oxen uo to his st;indard, they will 
find a ready demand here. Sir H. Jerniiig- 
hain's object in bringing out this breed Wiis 
to have ;i class of animal that would be the 
poor man'fi heasf. W(^ have any number ot 
donkeys ;in<"l -'"I'^'l mules, yet there sjionld 
be H place for these cattle as beasts of bur- 
den and fulfil the requirements of the pea- 
sant proprietors. 
Cow-farming is progressing by leaps and 
bounds and these small oxen should He 
especially useful for such work, also tor cacao 
estate work where they could pass freely 
under the trees without injurmg them; 
there are manv openings for theiu in various 
employments and those who have seen them 
and are competent to judge think that they 
have come to sta-y. Any way the experi- 
ment is worthy of a trial, -Yours truly, 
C. V/. MEADEN, Manager. 
THE "NILU" PLANT AND "JUNGLE 
CROW." 
Vavuniya, April 26, 1899. 
Dear Sir, -As regavds tlie flowering sea- 
sons of the -'NiUi" family, in the Northern 
Province, the species found is Stenosipho- 
niitm Biissellkmuni. When I came here 
in 1835, there were no signs of lo ; in 1896 
there were young plants ; m i-iebruary 1897 
it- fl-wered and died down ; in 1833 there were 
vonn.'^ nla.ivts and it has flowered again this 
vear ''in Feb. -March, and is praeticaily dead 
•now' This shews that this species flowers 
everV other year. It had evidently flowered 
and died down in 1835, before I c-amehere. 
As reo-ardsyour note m T.A. forMarch about 
ixviglc Srows, you have mixed up the true 
iraw of the-forest,coryus cuhninatiis,with the 
iuno-le crow, a cuckoo. I Lave seen tliem 
building a nest, but never seen the eggs 
There are two species m Ceylon, one found 
all over the island up to a moderate height 
and the other one peculiar to the Adams 
Peak wilderness and simdar forests. The 
iaXter is figured in Legge. i regret r ammi- 
thlp '•-'■> " ivc you the scientiflc name, Init this 
f4iS--nribioVniay be of use.-Yours truly, 
inio.Mxi<itiou i-iay ^ ARMITAGE. 
P Q -The "niUi" above referred to att;uns 
a h-l"-ht of from 5 to 7 feet, and is chiefly 
found^in poor forest growing over a sub- 
soil of conglomerate iron iV'^^V-^^ ^ ^ ^_ 
[A large number of Acnnihacerc are called 
"uilu ' by the natives, \>nl SliubihinthuK is 
the genus usnally understood by the name. The 
Sleiiosiphoiihdu RuHNelliiinnm, Mr. Annitage 
mentions, is the Hn-iiiiii, according to Dr. Tri- 
men's flora. It ik the next genus to Sh (tbi- 
Ui lit /n f ; !ini\ from Dr. Trimen's remarks we 
should have thought it flowered every Decem- 
ber; but Mr. Arniitageiiidicates that it flowei^s 
once in two years. Tiie specimens Mr. Anni- 
tage sends us ai-e very poor with uo leaves 
nor flow<-rs, but we have no doul* it is 
the " Bu-nilu." Tliis reminds us to quot* 
a hill cori espoiident that " Mr. Farr was 
"(piite rightabout the "nilu" districts in the 
"higlier regioiis and their flowei ing in maii»st*B 
"periodically. I .-^aw. last year, almost a 
"straight line dividing one diistiiet from an- 
" other. This v. as dividing the Hort<jn l^lains 
" side of TotapoUa from this side."— As regai-da 
the crows, dues Mr. Armitage ineaji that 
Legge whom we quoted is wrong? I..egge 
gives the varieties of Ihe " bl.ick crow" 
as follows as far as his kno^ Uulgo extendcMj ;— 
COnO.NK MACROnilVNCH-V. 
(The Black Crow.) 
Corvus macrorhynclnifs, Wagler, Syst. Av. 
Corvus, 3(1827); Hume, Strav Feath. 18^7, p. 461; 
id. ibid. (B. of Tenasseriui) IXiA, p. 600. 
Corvus l/raillnnfi. Less TraitJ, p. 32S (mi): 
Hohlsw. P.Z.S. 1&72, p. 460 ; Hume, Nests and 
E^gs, ii. p, 411 ; id. Str. Feath. 1874, p. 24:5 ; Ball, 
ibid. p. 418; Hume, ibid. 187.5, p. 14;i. 
Cornii culininntus, Grav. Cat. Mnmm. &c. 
Nepal Coll. Hodgs. p. 102(?i;co Sykes) (1844); Blvth, 
Cat. B. Mus. A. S. B. n. Si) (1849); Kelaiart. 
Prodromus, Cat. p. 124 (18.52); Layard, Ann. & 
Mag. Xat. Hist. xiii. p. 213 (1.S54); Horsf. & Moore, 
Cat; B. Mus. E. I. C. ii. p. 5a:J, in pt. (18.56); 
Jeidon, B. of Inrt. ii. p. 2.95 (18G3); Legge, Ibis, 
1874, p. 23, et 1875, p. 398. 
Corvufi sinensis, Moore, Cat. B. Mus. E. I. Co. 
ii. p. -556 (18561. 
Cforone levaillanti (in pt.), Sharpe, Cat. Birds, 
iii. p. 30 (1877). 
The Indian Corbi/, The Boir-biUed Corby, The 
Indian Raven (of some) in India. 
The Carrion or Jungle-Cruir in Ceylon. 
Dhar, Hiud. in the nortli ; JMeri-kotca, Hind, 
in the south; Dad-lcag, Beug.; Kaki, Telugu ; 
Ulak, Biiotias. 
Kaka or Goi/rf/rtmma kaka, lit. "High-cast* 
Crov,-," Sinhalese ; Kaka, Ceylonese Tamils. 
[We learned from Mr. Nock the other day 
that he has several "jungle crov/s" pretty 
nearly alw;iys in the Hakgala Gardens and he 
thinks they" must nest there, though he has 
never seen one to be certain. He is now to 
keep a w^atch and w'ill report result. No 
doubt a great deal remains to he verified and 
corrected in respect of Ornithology since 
Legge's time. — Ed. T.A.] 
RAINFALL AND FERTILITY. 
Sir, — Th-it fertility is largely associated 
with the rainfedl is fully recognised : but 
that excessive rainfall causes <a loss of ferti- 
lity is p^rha'ps not so fully recognised. 
At Roth;iiiisced for upwards of 20 years a 
most complete system of collecting and re- 
corJing the r<unfali, as Avell as the drainage 
water passing through 20 inches of arable 
land, has been established, and the resulta 
afford valuable practical information, 
